Page 7 of Witch's Rebirth
With a spring in my step, I followed Seth through the basement door and down the stairs to see the last person I expected bound by Ash and Sal’s magic.
“You!” I seethed.
3
DEJA
Juno's large, ocean-colored eyes looked back at me with rage and malice I once didn't know was possible.
The sweet, pretty blonde water witch used to frequent my tea shop in San Francisco. Aside from my grandmother, she'd been my first witch friend. She introduced me to the coven leaders and encouraged me to join. They even fast-tracked me into becoming an official member.
And they all turned on me the first chance they got.
She saw me with Raum and Sal, and most importantly their damning sigil tattoos. She alerted the hunters and sent them chasing after us. I was a fool to let her live and would not make that mistake again.
Three people from your past will come to see you again. One will end happily, one will end tragically. And the third? Well, depends on who you ask.Raum’s premonition echoed like a ringing bell in my head. My heart of hearts knew this was my tragic visitor.
"Juno." I couldn't keep myself from hiding the surprise in my voice. "You're the last person I expected to see here."
"Fuck you, demon whore!" she spat, struggling under the bonds of the shadow magic clamped tightly around her. With Sal, Ash, and Seth here, her magic was useless.
I lifted an eyebrow. "Sounds like someone's been filling your head with wholesome ideas. How is my dear old grandmother doing?"
"Fantastic!" she declared. "She and everyone else knows where you are. Every day she's getting stronger with shadow magic. Soon she won't need to touch you to kill you."
Seth snorted with laughter. The mood through his aura was relaxed. I figured she was full of shit but his reaction confirmed it for me.
"You won't be laughing soon, traitor. How could you turn on us?!" Juno looked at him with eyes full of pain. "It should have been you and me against them," she said, barely above a whisper.
"I was never on your side to begin with," Seth snapped. "And you already knew I don't fuck girls who cheat on their boyfriends."
Whoa. Juno was in love with Seth? My skin prickled with heat at this revelation, which I quickly pushed out of my mind. That was not the issue at hand and I wasnotjealous.
"How does Diana know our location?" I looked between Juno and Seth.
"There are these things called phones, idiot," Juno sneered. "I texted her the GPS coordinates."
"But how did you-" I cut myself off abruptly, the realization hitting me like a slap to the face. "The hunter attack was a distraction." I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth hard. "She meant for all of us to get out of the house so her new little minion could sneak in."
Fuck, I really should have seen it coming.
"Wow, when you rub two brain cells together you really can figure some things out."
"Oh my Gods, shut the fuck up!"
The outburst came from Seth, surprising all of us in the room and drawing our stares his way.
"I used to feel bad for you, Juno," he said with a shake of his head. "I thought you were a sweet girl. Timid maybe, but figured you could at least see when you were being used." Unable to look at her, he scrubbed a hand down his face. "Not only do you see it, you embrace it wholeheartedly. You don't think for yourself and you never have."
He was right. Everything she'd said so far had been a carbon copy of Diana's rhetoric, from the insults she chose to the inflections in her voice. But she pulled it off convincingly well. I scratched at my arms, trying not to let it get under my skin that her friendship with me was just a role she played.
"Yes I do!" she yelled back. "If you had gotten to know me, you'd know that!" She cast a venomous look my way. "That whore hasthreemen! Why would you reject me because I only had one? I only dated him to get close to you!"
"Are you deranged?!Shedoesn't use people! Have you ever stopped to think she has three because they all love the person she is?"
I had to stop myself from staring. Seth’s outburst in defense of me felt strange, like an article of clothing that didn’t fit.
"Well, congrats on becoming the fifth wheel," she snapped.
